Thursday, April 10, 2008

Last December I created a poll to determine which Knit Knack outfit was the fan favorite. The Captain Knack Sparrow shell was a clear winner with 31 out of 82 (37.8%) votes. Since then, the Captain has had some additional adventures I thought you might like to hear about.

First, did I ever tell you that after I send the shells to my mom, she writes stories about Knit Knack's adventures in his new outfits? So far, he has 16 different outfits, and I have 11 books. It's a trip.

One of the most recent books was The Adventures of Knit Knack: Captain Knack Sparrow in Pirates of the Vermillion. My mom has a collection of other stuffed and toy turtles that she dresses up to join Knit Knack on his adventures. They're quite the motley crew. For this particular book, though,

Mom built a pirate ship for the turtles. That's right. The Swift Purl. Shown here in dry dock on the back patio.

Here's Captain Knack at the helm.

There's even a figurehead named Myrtle. (She's a mertle, which is a cross between a mermaid and a turtle.)

(This is the part where you start talking about how we have too much time on our hands. And then comes the part where I tell you this is some of the best mother-daughter bonding ever.)

My mom's a teacher. She has high schoolers (bless her!) and she has told them all about Knit Knack. She even took him to school last fall to take pictures for his back to school book, and got most of her students and a lot of other teachers involved in the project. So it's no surprise that she took Pirates of the Vermillion to school to read to her students once it was finished. A few weeks later, one of her freshman students brought her a present. A drawing. Of Captain Knack Sparrow. The artist, Bre, gave me permission to show you her pencil drawing. (click for big)

17 comments:

Ahhhh, who could ever say they're bored in this life? What with knitting and turtles and knitted turtles, life is good and you and your mom are geniuses (genusii??) I love how the students get involved.

This entry just gets cooler and cooler! First a pirate ship... then a Mertle sighting... then Mom and Daughter bonding... then taking turtles to school... then reading to students handmade pirate stories about turtles... woo!

Hi! I've been stalking your page for a few weeks and I now feel compelled to show myself!I think Knit Knack is adorable!! And the fact that your mother writes stories for him is the coolest! It is really awesome that you and your mom have such a cool relationship.I am looking forward to hearing more stories about Knit Knack!